


pretending we know things (pretty things)

by tendecibels



Category: TREASURE (Korea Band), YG Treasure Box (TV)
Genre: :P, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, actual abuse of brackets, hajeongwoo are only mentioned, hyunsuk is a good kid he just never does any of his work, irresponsible and evil teacher cameos, jihoon keeps flirting w hyunsuk to take the piss out of him, legit no angst, soft rebels!sukhoon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:15:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25038346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tendecibels/pseuds/tendecibels
Summary: Hyunsuk doesn’t quite understand why someone he barely knows would purposefully and continuously get detention just to accompany him, but Jihoon certainly sprinkles excitement into his afternoons.(And maybe a little bit ofhope.)
Relationships: Choi Hyunsuk/Park Jihoon
Comments: 13
Kudos: 201





	pretending we know things (pretty things)

**Author's Note:**

> This is lowkey shit but I had to take it upon myself to introduce sukhoon content
> 
> twt: tendecibvls  
> cc: https://curiouscat.qa/tendecibvls

Hyunsuk isn’t really a _bad_ child. Honestly. He certainly knows a lot of people would beg to differ, and there’s definitely evidence against his case. 

_Still_ , in his opinion, he’s not that terrible at all; it simply boils down to the fact that his choice _character flaws_ just so happen to make the rest of his high school peers seem largely innocent.

(Especially since pivate school doesn’t really boast the most rebellious of kids.)

So, no, he’s not terrible, but he’ll readily admit that he isn’t a saint either. Not when it’s rather well known that he’s not a stranger to truanting and only recently broke the habit of attending school only if he really felt like it, much to his parent’s joy and his own indifference. 

Hyunsuk just wants nothing to do with neither the environment nor the work set, and it lines up that completing schoolwork also happens to fall very low on the list of Hyunsuk’s daily priorities (which consist solely of songwriting, rapping, gaming and pissing off his younger brother; Junghwan).

It’s not like he’s stupid, evident in his ability to scrape decent grades without much effort, and would probably be passing with flying colours had he sacrificed his evenings to motivated study and homework completion. 

It’s just pointless, if he’s doing well enough to pass all of his tests with above average scores, shouldn’t that speak more for him instead of getting grades docked because he won’t complete the tedious tasks set when he’s got better, more fulfilling things to do.

If they’re an attempt to measure diligence and intelligence, then they’ve greatly missed the mark by Hyunsuk’s books. In fact, probably one of the worst judgement calls he’s ever seen. 

(Way fucking worse than that one summer’s day, when Junkyu and Jaehyuk thought it’d be a stellar idea to attempt to cook eggs on the scalding surface of a concrete floor. Needless to say, it didn’t work.)

Hyunsuk isn’t even just talking out of his ass - that’s oftentimes Junghwan’s job - seeing as he’s pretty well versed of both sides of the academic spectrum; once a straight A, no rest and a certainly unhappy model student. (Well, not exactly, he still swore every other word and didn’t exactly keep to curfew nor school starting times.)

Contrary to popular belief, he is actually quite well acquainted with the life of killing yourself to beat deadlines, and bending over backwards to please teachers for good, fair and accurate grades.

It’s just not fair to him, that as a senior in high school, he and most of his peers barely get away with six hours of sleep a night. Then, once you add dance practice and the commonplace struggle of putting their phones away at night, it’s probably a closer number to just under five hours.

Honestly, Hyunsuk doesn’t even care about being sleep deprived when he gets stupid hours of sleep regardless, but it’s the fact that it’s obligatory.

He doesn’t understand the idea that they’re forced to sacrifice precious hours of sleep and in his case, songwriting, to produce generic essays of which he barely knows what he’s writing and will most definitely do him absolutely no justice in the future. 

So sure, he’s defiant and a little hot headed, but definitely smart enough that he probably shouldn’t be in detention so often. But still, Hyunsuk is content, even though he may not be the best student, he knows he’s definitely a great person.

Hyunsuk could be a lot worse. He’s seen some of the actual delinquents in his school, and doesn’t even scratch his name in the mud compared to them. Comparatively, he could have fallen into the endless rabbit holes of smoking, drinking and selling drugs, and ended up with a lifetime of problems in his hands.

Stealing could have very well become one of his favourite pastimes, if he wasn’t careful, something that he knows a few kids in the next class were caught for not even a few days before. 

Hyunsuk barely even interacts with that crowd, sticking to a small circle consisting of key members Junkyu and Yoshinori.

If it wasn’t for them, Hyunsuk thinks he could have been a lot worse. Definitely nothing illegal, but they’ve played a big part in motivating him to attempt to strive for high marks in all of his classes, barring English and History. Hyunsuk doesn’t think anything could ever make him care about Mr. Kim’s lessons.

Hyunsuk tries. Honestly.

He tries be a good influence on his little brother; Junghwan, and his small group of friends, even if he can’t exactly set them a good example. 

Whenever necessary, he praises and helps them with their schoolwork though Jeongwoo could probably outsmart all of his teachers in seconds flat, but chooses to behave like he isn’t outstandingly intelligent for reasons unknown, and harshly scolds then if they ever attempt to follow in his footsteps. 

Hypocritical, he knows. But he just doesn’t want his little brother to have his hopes and dreams seemingly scattered by all of the adults around him. He wants Junghwan to know that even if people much older than him say he can’t, he _can_.

Hyunsuk remembers when he was their age, freshly into high school, and a world of curiosity in his pocket. He almost laughs out loud at how jaded he sounds. 

Hyunsuk also actively makes a great attempt to be kind to his teachers and really believes in ensuring other people’s happiness, though some of them play a key role in the reason he cannot be fucked anymore, and really add that much needed touch of unbearable annoyance to his day.

He’s smiling and jovial even when Mr. Kim is publicly railing him in front of the entire class (if his complacency serves to piss him off even further, Hyunsuk’s certainly not doing it on purpose), over yet another missed English assignment that he’d knowingly ignored.

Honestly, Hyunsuk could not give a single flying fuck about his English classes. 

By his books, he speaks English well enough, certainly better than everyone else in his class, and sees little reason to grieve and grovel over books written hundreds of years ago with useless language appropriate to those times. Sue him.

Kim sighs and shakes his head, forehead creasing in that spiteful manner that makes him look so frustratingly condescending, “You have so much wasted potential Hyunsuk, sitting here and acting like an idiot.”

Ah, so today he’s acting like an idiot, and isn’t doing this in some twisted means to get attention. Good to know.

Hyunsuk has about a million verses in his head to recite to this man; how regardless of his effort, Mr Kim is totally blind to acknowledging it, how once upon a time he actually used to slave away in the hopes of hearing just one compliment from his teacher, but of course Kim’s conveniently forgotten.

There comes a point where it’s simply too exhausting to argue with someone who selectively views you through tinted lens, only seeing the negative aspects of Hyunsuk’s attitude, the problems, and now Hyunsuk really wants to give him the show he seems to be prodding for.

However, as usual, he says none of this, refusing to give even a single reaction that could lead to him being sent to the office. He quite prides himself in the self control he’s worked up over the school years. 

He’s about to rest his head on the table in a purposefully public display that he could care less about Kim attempting to not very subtly make him feel insignificant in front of the entire class, when a typical voice sounds out in the room.

“With all due respect, Mr. Kim, but we all know Hyunsuk isn’t going to do his work any time soon. That doesn’t mean he’s stupid at all, like you keep calling him. You’re boring us a little.”

Park Jihoon. Infamous Park Jihoon. A high achieving student, who shares quite a few classes with Hyunsuk. Very well known for his popularity and ability to talk back to and outsmart teachers without them even realising he’s being rude. It’s the reason he’s never in detention. That and the fact that he’s so charming.

Park Jihoon, staff’s enemy and best friend alike, doing something he’d never be caught dead doing. Fighting other people’s battles, and being snarky towards Mr. Kim, who’s extremely volatile and permanently in a bad mood. Hyunsuk silently wonders what the fuck is going on.

Kim splutters in the surprise he’s sure they’re all feeling for a moment before collecting himself, garnering chuckles of amusement from the class, he reddens in anger at the sound and blurts a threat.

“Mind yourself, I’ll put you in detention with Hyunsuk.”

Jihoon takes a moment to raise an eyebrow in challenge, relaxing in his seat, obviously faking disinterest, “I’m waiting.” He drawls, an infuriating smirk etched across his face.

Kim, as predictable as ever, explodes over Jihoon’s insolence and uncaring attitude, muttering something about overt disobedience and he stops the lesson to open the system on his laptop.

Smiling as if he’s completed a long awaited mission when Mr. Kim agitatedly logs his detention into the system, he assumes doing his work again, tapping quietly on the side of the desk. Strange, Hyunsuk thinks. 

-

Evidently, Hyunsuk is no stranger to detentions at all, spending so much of his week in this room he’s kind of grown fond of the silence and lethargy accompanied with Mr. Kim’s classroom. Today, it’s joltingly strange to have someone else with him, and his peace is slightly disturbed, he’s grown so used to almost always being by himself. 

His class is filled to the brim with over-achievers, and Jihoon’s much too calculated to ever be caught in detention, however much he infuriated his teachers. 

He also almost always stood clear of Mr. Kim, cracking almost no jokes in his classes, seeing as he’s largely unaffected by charm and entirely volatile to disobedient children. Jihoon isn’t stupid enough to piss off Mr. Kim for no reason.

So why he’s sitting two seats away from Hyunsuk’s usual spot, their teacher leaving them totally unsupervised in Mr. Kim fashion, at four o’clock on a Friday afternoon makes little sense to Hyunsuk, and he makes it known, “Why are you here?”

Though Hyunsuk doesn’t really understand why, Jihoon smirks in amusement, and deflects the question, tilting his head to the side, “why are you?”

Hyunsuk narrows his eyes, “You don’t _get_ detention, Jihoon. Ever.”

“It’s a waste of time.” Jihoon shrugs nonchalantly, stretching into the back of his seat.

“So, why now?”

“There’s a first time for everything,” Jihoon winks, and Hyunsuk’s stomach does something funny, being caught off guard, “and Mr. Kim’s been pissing me off for the longest.”

Now that, Hyunsuk can definitely understand. He seems to accept this response, averting his eyes to stare at the clock in front of him once again.

Detention passes by quite quickly once it’s become a rigid routine to your week, Hyunsuk has found over time, and it seems like it’s only been ten minutes when Mr. Kim is already re-entering the classroom he realistically should have been in the whole time to dismiss them. 

Hyunsuk’s honestly surprised Mr. Kim hasn’t run out of willpower to consistently surrender his free time to give detentions for things he’s likely to never change, forget Kim being willing to accept a change, but his teacher is something else entirely.

It’s kind of satisfying to see his scowl deepen as Jihoon waves him goodbye with the most fabricated smile possible

Sitting a Kim detention with another participant is definitely a strange experience, one he doesn’t experience often. Usually, Hyunsuk likes to use this time to work on unfinished pieces and lyrics since he cannot concentrate anywhere else and receives amounts of inspiration in these detentions, or to sleep and purposefully ignore the work sheets Mr. Kim specifically places on his desk. 

But today he’s able to do neither, distracted by Jihoon’s presence. He isn’t even doing anything remotely annoying, but Hyunsuk just can’t ignore his overwhelming presence in the room. 

Instead, he just sits silently bored, attempts one question on the work sheet and spends the rest of his time trying not to stare at Jihoon.

He goes home hoping to have a cacophony of amazing ideas next week, when there’s no one there to disrupt his artistic thinking.

-

But Jihoon’s there next week. And the week after, and the week after. By this point, Hyunsuk can confidently say that Mr. Kim seethes hate for Jihoon almost as much as he does Hyunsuk. (Which garners Jihoon a lot of silent respect from Hyunsuk, seeing as even being able to compete with him is an incredibly large feat to conquer.)

Almost strangely, Jihoon becomes a subtle constant in his life, barely interacting throughout the school day and scarcely acknowledging each other’s presence’s until after hours, where Jihoon typically talks for almost the full hour.

Mr. Kim’s also never there to supervise them, so is neither there to control Jihoon’s word vomit. Hyunsuk isn’t quite sure how to feel about that.

He’s strangely entertaining, Hyunsuk must say, full of stories about every sector of life, and can talk regardless of Hyunsuk’s even listening. Much like him, Jihoon never completes the work Kim sets them in detention, and instead strikes conversation with Hyunsuk. He’s intriguing.

Hyunsuk has always known that Jihoon was very intelligent in all aspects, especially regarding other people and their behaviour. Honestly, if Jihoon didn’t behave like such an idiot in detention, Hyunsuk would probably be scared of the way he just sees through people with no effort.

Jihoon has this uncanny ability to subconsciously figure out people’s weak points and exploit them to the extent of his means, an it’s kind of unsettling. It’s the exact reason why he can be so incredibly infuriating and also get almost whatever he wants from whoever he’s talking to. Hyunsuk wants absolutely nothing to do with it.

But it’s with this same personality quirk that he’s developed a strange obsession for making Hyunsuk incredibly flustered as often as possible, which isn’t very difficult in actuality, with the correct methods. (Of which Jihoon seems to have mastered, inside and out.)

Alongside his usual non-stop chatter about his day or recent events, he’s adopted the habit of unabashedly calling Hyunsuk pretty or anything else alongside those lines during rare bouts of silence when he expects it least. 

Hyunsuk fucking hates it _hates_ it. He hates the fact that his reactions are so volatile whenever it happens, a blush immediately settling high on his cheeks and the intense desire to hide from Jihoon’s teasing gaze.

He forces himself to meet Jihoon’s eyes with a mean glare, and spits the question out, “why do you keep _doing that_?”

“It’s fun.” Jihoon laughs, “you’re easy to embarrass.”

Hyunsuk just gives him a kind display of the finger.

-

Jihoon gets worse as time passes. 

Today, he seems to be talking about some pretty girl that’s showing obvious interest in him, and how to let her down kindly. Hyunsuk isn’t quite sure why he’s looking for advice from him of all people, when they barely know each other, but he supposes it’s detention, what else is there to do.

“I’m just not really interested in dating anyone at the moment but she’s so pretty and kind, I don’t wanna hurt her feelings.” Jihoon whines in indignation, looking to Hyunsuk with a pleading gaze in his eyes.

Hyunsuk’s really not the best person to consult, as someone who’s dated a grand total of one person in his entire life, and it was a very short, awkward and unfulfilling experience. Hyunsuk chooses not to count it as an actual relationship for personal reasons.

(So his group of traitorous friends don’t violate him every goddamn time it’s mentioned, he’s just stopped mentioning it.)

Hyunsuk does his best and shrugs, “tell her what you just told me, that she’s pretty and kind but you don’t want to date right now.”

Jihoon leans back in his chair heavily, “it’s not that simple, hyung.” He starts doodling on the corner of a random sheet, “it’s harder when they aren’t even your type, it sounds fake.”

Hyunsuk raises an eyebrow, “if she’s pretty, kind and smart, what’s there not to like?”

Something strange fills Hyunsuk as he watches Jihoon contemplate a response. For some reason he can’t explain, he feels slightly anxious to hear an answer.

“She’s not like _you_ , hyung. You’ve got good fashion sense." Hyunsuk rolls his eyes very obviously, preparing to retort again anything else that comes out of Jihoon’s mouth, “Plus, you’re cute, and you don’t care for authority.”

Hyunsuk’s heart catches as Jihoon swivels in his seat to stare at him, “can you blame me for being interested?”

There’s a moment of tense silence where Hyunsuk feels his heartbeat quicken to a precarious rate, before he’s shoving the book he’d been pretending to read directly into Jihoon’s face without warning. 

Something in his surprised exclamation fills Hyunsuk with immense satisfaction,  
“Hey! I was just kidding!” 

Jihoon’s struggling and apologising as Hyunsuk doesn’t let up, and he relishes in this small, rare victory against Park Jihoon. 

(and at least Jihoon doesn’t have to witness and make fun of the stupid blush gracing his cheeks for the nth time.)

-

It’s next week when there’s three of them in detention, another classmate who’d mistakenly turned up with the wrong textbooks on one of Mr. Kim’s bad days. Hyunsuk just shook his head and offered a small smile of sympathy which was graciously returned. 

Still, Jihoon had talked significantly less and made almost no smart comments, and Hyunsuk hates to admit that it was kind of disappointing.

-

It’s two weeks later when Mr. Kim walks them to detention, and surprisingly doesn’t leave straight away. Hyunsuk’s immediate reaction is shock that Kim’s able to stand being in the same room with just Jihoon and him and not have an instant aneurism.

His amusement is dashed almost instantly when their teacher opens his mouth.

“You guys have been really taking advantage of my leniency, and-“ 

Hyunsuk already begins drowning him out, used to Kim’s tirades of how underappreciated and violated he feels by having, as Hyunsuk sees it, _less papers to mark_.

He comes up with a couple bars in his head as Kim talks, and a random flow that he’ll probably develop later, but is jerkily brought out of his daydream when he hears Mr. Kim utter his final words.

“I want an essay, 10 pages, on the varying concepts explored in Romeo & Juliet and how they affect the premise of the story, or I’m reporting you two to the principal. Discuss.”  
Kim doesn’t even stay to witness their reactions of disbelief, before he exits sharply, slamming the door shut behind him.

Hyunsuk can’t even compute the anger he feels, as he stares at the exit which Kim used. He almost guffaws at the audacity of Kim to knowingly set an essay which he definitely knows they’ll never be able to complete; never having had experience writing anything longer than 3000 words, and also their class having the bare minimum of knowledge regarding anything Shakespeare at all, much less the English language.

Kim wants them to teach themselves about both the concepts that visualise a Shakespearean play in a language only one of them is just about fluent in, and how to write an essay of 10 gruelling pages. In two weeks.

Hyunsuk sighs in designation, “he’s getting rid of us and he’s not even hiding it.”

Honestly speaking, Hyunsuk has half the mind not to even attempt to do it and give Mr. Kim a choice selection of words in the English vocabulary as fair parting words but Jihoon looks suspiciously content. Hyunsuk narrows his eyes at the lack of even a complaint from the younger.

“Let’s just do it.” Jihoon doesn’t look nearly as bothered as Hyunsuk does, and he takes the time to spare him a withering look of warning that Jihoon thankfully cowers at. Still, he looks too ambitious, “it’ll be fun, and we can prove ourselves to Kim!”

Hyunsuk couldn’t give a flying fuck about proving himself to Kim, when it’s a pretty much a given that he’ll never be able to do so in this life nor the next.

He’s about to deny but Jihoon’s almost grabbing him now, a hopeful look in his eyes, “please, hyung. Give yourself a chance.” 

It’s something in the strange excitement in Jihoon’s eyes, and even though he’ll never admit it, the slight promise of actually hanging out outside of this classroom that has Hyunsuk’s resolve defenceless. Hyunsuk hates himself for being so weak to literally every person in his vicinity as he gives in.

(It’s just the icing on the cake when Jihoon says he looks pretty smiling like that.)

-

It’s weird having Jihoon at his house, and he can tell the other boy feels it too because he’s talking considerably less. Maybe it’s the notion that they’re no longer in the school environment they’ve become comfortable in, or the fact that his parents are in the area so their conversation topics and vocabulary usage are slightly limited.

Jihoon sits a little awkwardly on the edge of his bed as Hyunsuk sits at his desk, both staring off into different directions. Assorted pens, notebooks and each of their laptops lay in front of them, but none of it has even been touched. It’s so _awkward_.

Hyunsuk takes a deep breath, “so how do we start this?” 

Jihoon fiddles with the cap of a fountain pen as he quietly thinks, and his lips jut out cutely in a pout, “Well, we know almost nothing about this play, so why don’t we take it easy today? Find out a bit about the background and stuff.”

Hyunsuk’s about to question further into his generic statement when Jihoon’s eyes light up brightly and he sits up in excitement, “let’s watch the movie! The one with Leonardo DiCaprio in it!”

It takes no more coercion before they’re both closing the curtains and dimming the lights, Hyunsuk running downstairs to make popcorn, while his mom narrowly eyes him in suspicion, reminding them to get some work done.

He enters his room cradling a bowl of warm popcorn as Jihoon fiddles with his laptop, “they say the movie’s not too accurate to the script,” Jihoon trails off, eyebrows scrunched, to which Hyunsuk waves a dismissive hand and simply climbs onto his bed next to Jihoon in time with the sound of the opening tune.

For some reason he can’t seem to place, he’s hyper aware of Jihoon’s presence next to him as always, and the brushing of their hands as they simultaneously reach for popcorn but he chalks it up to simply not being used to having anyone over to his house that isn’t one of his best friends. 

(His gut doesn’t seem to agree.)

Jihoon jokingly attempts to smother him with a pillow after Hyunsuk’s nth mention of how stunning the young Leonardo DiCaprio was, to the point where Jihoon actually questions whether Hyunsuk even knows what’s going on in the plot past Leonardo DiCaprio’s visuals.

Jihoon’s mocking but it’s not long before he too is enunciating every appearance DiCaprio makes on their screen, and he’s soon worse than Hyunsuk ever was. Something stirs in his stomach at the hinted possibility of Jihoon having interest in the same sex, but he suppresses it to feelings of kinship.

Something also stirs in his stomach when he contemplates the reality of them laying together in the dark, watching stupid renditions of Romeo and Juliet for a school project, laughing to hysterics at each other seemingly losing it over DiCaprio’s beauty. Something about it is very fulfilling to Hyunsuk’s heart. Again, he chalks it up to the satisfaction of friendship.

(His instincts are positively rioting in disagreement by this point, but Hyunsuk chooses to ignore it.)

-

They work quite steadily after their first “session” together, alternating who’s house they congregate at depending on whether Hyunsuk’s younger brother, Junghwan, was home and bored, or if Jihoon’s one younger brother, Doyoung was home.

It’s a nice routine, even though they are slaving away at an essay Mr. Kim will probably turn his nose at, no matter how well Hyunsuk perceives it to be going. The both of them are fast learners, smoothing out their journey slightly, along with the lack of a personality clash, something that used to drive the old Hyunsuk wild when working on group projects.

Jihoon’s strangely different when they aren’t in detention, a significant lack of cheesy comments to stir up a reaction in Hyunsuk, but now he seems to fluster him without any intention to do so at all.

These days Hyunsuk hasn’t been able to control the way his heart rate increases whenever Jihoon unconsciously rests his hand on his shoulder or his thigh, and the way his signature blush colours whenever Jihoon sincerely compliments him, which happens quite often as time passes. 

Jihoon oblivious bliss to the effect he has on Hyunsuk when he isn’t even trying makes matters worse, because then it’s just weird for Hyunsuk to suddenly become flustered or embarrassed when Jihoon isn’t even playing around or trying to get a rise out of him.

Hyunsuk doesn’t remember the last time a new friendship felt this strange.

However, Jihoon’s unbelievably funny, and a pleasing distraction whenever they’ve been working for so long that Hyunsuk begins to get needlessly frustrated. It’s maddening how Jihoon seems to know exactly when they should take a break, and how perfectly to tease Hyunsuk until he’s laughing easily once again.

Progressively, their friendship reaches stages where they no longer meet just to work on their essay, organising days where they go to cafés to try all of the sweet drinks that Jihoon’s addicted to but Hyunsuk firmly believes are slowly killing him. 

They start going to open parks and seldom used roads, where Hyunsuk attempts to teach Jihoon how to skate. (which he fails painfully at, to Hyunsuk’s amusement, and adamantly refuses to admit that there’s at least one thing he just can’t do.)

Jihoon had even managed to convince Hyunsuk to agree to an afternoon filled with a plethora of horror movies, which Hyunsuk can confidently say Jihoon had enjoyed alone with Junkyu, a friend they’d never known was mutual, Junghwan and his friends Haruto and Jeongwoo, who’d tagged along. 

Even though Hyunsuk was terribly concerned about subjecting the kids to such horrors, but as it turns out, he was mistakenly worried about the wrong people. They’d all had the time of their lives, it had seemed like.

Hyunsuk however, had started violently at every slight sound he heard, since he could barely remove his hands from his eyes for longer than five seconds at a time. It was horrible, being the eldest of them all, and so shit scared of a b-tier horror movie that Junghwan was positively _laughing_ at.

To which, Jihoon had assumably began feeling pity and graciously offered to turn it off, also to which Hyunsuk had stubbornly and pridefully willed them to keep it playing, though everyone could tell he was mere seconds from tears even while he was hiding in Jihoon’s shoulder and basically in his lap.

It’s absolutely needless to say Hyunsuk couldn’t sleep that night after Jihoon, Junkyu and Junghwan’s friends had all returned home. He lay there, tossing and turning, images flashing behind his eyes and greatly unsettled. 

Hyunsuk can almost visualise how peacefully Junghwan is probably sleeping in the room next door, and he sighs in annoyance.

The deafening silence of his empty room was doing the least to comfort his distress and he sums it down to an impulse tinged with frustration that makes him grab his phone and open Jihoon’s contact without even thinking.

**me**  
_I can’t sleep_  
_and it’s your fault_

It’s a little past midnight, but Jihoon’s a late sleeper and an afternoon riser, so Hyunsuk’s not surprised when a response comes through almost immediately.

**jihoon**  
_I told you we should have turned it off_  
_so it’s your fault_

Hyunsuk can’t help but smile bashfully as his fingers glide nimbly across his screen. 

**me**  
_:(_  
_take responsibility_  
_tell me a story_

**jihoon**  
_no sleep it’s late_

**me**  
_it’s kinda scary to be alone rn :/_  
_i really can’t sleep_

Hyunsuk apprehensively waits for a response, entirely expecting Jihoon to make fun of him as would be entirely Jihoon-fashion, but Hyunsuk’s mouth falls wide open in disbelief at his response.

**jihoon**  
_sigh_  
_unlock your window_  
_gimme 10, gotta make sure my parents are asleep_

**me**  
_what?!?!_  
_you’re coming over?!?!_

**jihoon**  
_well it’s not like I can sleep either so_

_yeah, I am_

-

It’s almost comical the way Hyunsuk falls asleep after what seems like seconds since Jihoon settled under his duvet, not without Hyunsuk angrily berating him for sneaking out at almost one in the morning, and he’d be lying if he said he payed no mind to dull weight of Jihoon’s arm against the side of his waist as his mind drifted off elsewhere.

He’s way too tired to even wonder what the fuck this all even _means_ ; the butterflies in his stomach at every glance towards Jihoon’s direction, his sheer willingness to sneak out after midnight just to comfort Hyunsuk to sleep, the comfortability that he’s just never felt with anyone else before. 

He’s definitely way too tired to entertain any of these thoughts. Maybe he’ll think about it in the morning.

(He certainly doesn’t dream about the way Jihoon had called him _pretty_ just before they’d fallen asleep.)

-

Jihoon’s long gone by the time Hyunsuk wakes up to a bright Saturday morning. His first thought is surprise at the fact that Jihoon actually managed to wake up early enough to sneak back out. Shards of broken golden light streak into his room through gaps in his curtain and he briefly mourns the loss of Jihoon’s warm weight next to him as he slept. 

Until, he remembers exactly how confused he is about the odd combination of emotions he has festering for a certain Park Jihoon. Then, he turns over and groans deeply into his pillow.

It’s frustrating how even now he has butterflies in his stomach, when Jihoon’s not even here or texting him or _anything_. It’s just so confusing. He turns over again to face the ceiling and groans once more, considerably louder.

His exasperation is only exemplified when he passes his brother in the hallway, set to continue on his morning after a simply good morning, only for his brother to narrowly observe him. 

They stare at each other in silence, and Hyunsuk fidgets uncomfortably until Junghwan speaks, “I know Jihoon was here last night, I heard him.”

Fuck their shared wall, Hyunsuk curses in his head. The look junghwan gives him is simultaneously knowing and suspicious of the way Hyunsuk blushes uncontrollably at the mention of Jihoon. He fucking _hates_ that he understands why.

-

Their essay is still in desperate need of finishing and Hyunsuk’s fruitlessly trying to remind Jihoon of this, whose grown to like organising days out and movie nights, rather than meets to get a move on with their essay.

He’s texting Jihoon exactly this, who is in turn repeatedly responding with a list of children’s movies he’d like them to see once they come out in the cinemas, and Hyunsuk feels like they’re having two different conversations here.

He still finds himself grinning stupidly at the idea of going to see a korean dub of the sonic movie in the cinemas with an easily entertained Jihoon, who’ll probably relish in that environment.

**me**  
_jihoonie seriously_  
_we have work to do_

**jihoon**  
_sigh_  
_ok fine_  
_but you have to promise to watch the sonic movie with me_

**me**  
_jihoon_

Hyunsuk hates the fact that he can’t even control the fond smile that always threatens to take over every time he interacts with Jihoon.

**jihoon**  
_promise !!_

**me**  
_ok_  
_i promise_

**jihoon**  
_yay (^o^)_  
_it’ll be fun_

(In hindsight, it absolutely was. The sonic movie was complete shit, but Jihoon enjoyed it nevertheless. Hyunsuk had the time of his life.)

**jihoon**  
_come to mine at 10_

**me**  
_10?!?!_  
_I just said we need to WORK, jihoon_

**jihoon**  
_we are going to work_  
_I have an idea_

-

As it turns out, Jihoon’s great idea ends up being pulling an all nighter, in which, they’re supposed write for their essay. 

It kind of works. A little. 

They work for a solid two hours, Hyunsuk contributing ideas and telling Jihoon what to type as he lays his head comfortably in Hyunsuk’s lap while he runs his hands through the soft strands of his hair.

(As usual, Hyunsuk’s heart is almost beating out of his chest at the close proximity to Jihoon.)

Doyoung, who Hyunsuk’s developed quite the bond with, interrupts then a couple times; and they play games for a little while until he goes to bed.

Surprisingly, they do so much once Doyoung goes to sleep that Hyunsuk thinks they’ll be completely finished by the next time they see each other and Jihoon smiles a smile so warm at the relevation. Still, they eventually get distracted by some stupid youtube video, and then they get tired. 

It’s only three in the morning.

Hyunsuk almost can’t believe he assumed Jihoon would have the energy capacity to last through an all-nighter; honestly, he doesn’t even know what inspired Jihoon to settle on an all-nighter, rather than working throughout the day like a normal person, but Hyunsuk’s learnt not to question him anymore. 

Instead, he moves to sit on Jihoon’s desk to leave the owner in peace, scrolling through his laptop, so as not to disturb Jihoon as he sleeps.

He’s lost himself in thought for a few minutes, relaxing in the silence while Jihoon’s probably passed out in his position on the bed, before becoming tired himself and climbing into the navy covers.

Silently, Hyunsuk wonders when he became so comfortable sharing a bed with Jihoon. Like all night thoughts, he lists this one as one for the morning light.

-

Unsurprisingly, Hyunsuk wakes up before Jihoon but it’s probably due to the heavy weight of Jihoon’s arms locked tightly around his waist and chest, and only then does he notice the way in which their legs are tangled together as well.

Like this, Hyunsuk definitely won’t be able to detach himself from Jihoon without inevitablely waking him up as well, but he doesn’t even have time to consider his options before Jihoon’s eyes are slowly blinking open.

Hyunsuk counts. Jihoon blinks three times in cute confusion, before his eyes widen comically and he scrambles to detach himself from Hyunsuk. 

Jihoon babbles in a panic, caught off guard, something Hyunsuk rarely sees, and something compels him to find this interaction humourous, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, this is so embarrassing. I swear I didn’t mean to-“

Hyunsuk couldn’t tell you why, but he feels relaxed, calm in Jihoon’s presence right now. Something that rarely happens with the way his heart automatically increases by a ten-fold at the sound of Jihoon’s voice.

Maybe it’s because it’s early and he’s tired, but Hyunsuk kind of wants to cherish this moment. So he hushes Jihoon quietly, “It’s okay, go back to sleep, it’s too early.”

He swears his body is moving without permission but he feels himself grabbing onto Jihoon’s right arm which was secured around his waist and replaces it in the position it was in before. Hyunsuk smiles into his pillow when he feels Jihoon’s muscles relax, then tighten his hold.

-

After that, it takes only a few more sessions before their essay is completed, a day before due date. 

Honestly, Hyunsuk thought this would be impossible, and that his parents would be scheduled a meeting with the principal on some exaggerated account of his behaviour from Mr. Kim, his parents who were already largely displeased with his poor attitude towards school. 

Contrary to every single expectation he’d walked into this having, they’d completed their first ten page essay, about the concepts of forbidden love in Romeo and Juliet in just under two weeks.

Upon writing their final word and checking over it for the final time, they’d celebrated by spamming Junkyu with voice notes of their loud, excited screaming, and boasted in front of Junghwan, who’d apparently mad a bet with Jeongwoo that they wouldn’t be able to finish this in time.

Hyunsuk’s never been so elated to see his brother become poorer.

He’s ecstatic, and he knows Jihoon is too, but there’s something bittersweet in his celebration. He just feels as if without the pretence of “studying for a project together” and completing their essay, they’ll be no reason for them to meet outside of school at all.

Hyunsuk’s slightly scared he’d gotten too used to seeing Jihoon for hours on end almost every single day, gotten too used to being with him, gotten too used to hearing his obnoxious laughter at something stupid in the background, that he’d gotten too used to _Jihoon_.

It’s worse that this was such a close call to a one way trip to the principals office for the both of them, born out of both Mr. Kim’s spite, but also Jihoon stupid habit of purposefully getting detentions whenever Hyunsuk does.

What if all of it stops? What if his relationship with Jihoon comes to an end after all of this?

Hyunsuk lives and breathes this anxiety all while they hand over their essay to Mr. Kim, who instantly assumes it’s plagiarised (which Jihoon takes as a compliment), all through the next couple detentions they’ve been sanctioned, until he receives a spontaneous FaceTime notification from Jihoon.

As soon as he answers, Jihoon’s face comes into frame and Hyunsuk finds himself mirroring his moony smile. He’s wearing an orange hoodie, one that looks large on him so would probably drown Hyunsuk, and his hair falls into his eyes. He looks nice, Hyunsuk thinks, like home.

“I’ve been thinking, we should try do Kim’s assignments together over the phone or something!” Jihoon proposes, shaking the hair out of his eyes so he can watch Hyunsuk’s reaction.

Really, there’s not really much inner debate to be had over on Hyunsuk’s side, weak to absolutely everything Jihoon requests of him and already sold by the pure smile he’d been graced with upon answering the call.

The thought of completing homework is almost unbearable to Hyunsuk, but he knows Jihoon knows that, and wouldn’t force him to do anything that would make him unhappy. So, he agrees amiably, “sounds like less detention and a happier Kim to me.”

Jihoon laughs freely at that, a sound that stirs the butterflies in his stomach once again. They talk for a while longer, about everything and nothing at the same time, until Hyunsuk hears voices calling Jihoon from offscreen and he quickly announces his departure.

They say their goodbyes, and Hyunsuk doesn’t expect it at all when he hears a familiar word fall from Jihoon’s lips, “by the way, you look pretty today, Hyunsuk.”

Jihoon quickly ends the call with a smile, while Hyunsuk’s left frozen in shock. It’s been a long, long while since Jihoon had last done anything of that sort, he notes, probably since they first started working on Mr. Kim’s essay but his reaction feels as natural as ever.

But something felt different, like something in the air was lit static. They’ve progressed past the stage of their friendship of Jihoon’s teasing, and now it just seems weird. Almost like a genuine compliment.

Hyunsuk closes his eyes and breathes, trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach. What was Jihoon doing to him?

-

Its the final straw a week later when he receives a random call from Jihoon, no text to ask if he wanted to do schoolwork, or if he was busy like he always did. Nothing, no preface. Just a phone call.

Hyunsuk picks up, and instantly senses something is wrong. It’s in the tone of Jihoon’s voice, deflated and emotionless as he murmurs a greeting. Hyunsuk can just picture him, eyes lifeless and cast downwards, posture curving inwards.

“Jihoon? What’s wrong?” Hyunsuk presses, tone questioning and concerned. Nothing much is able to bring Jihoon down, something Hyunsuk has always admired, how thick his skin was and how strong his mentality. Hyunsuk seriously wonders what happened.

Hyunsuk hears Jihoon take a single breath, before he whispers a single syllable, “hyung.”

After that first word, they all come tumbling out like a dam broken. He goes into a detailed story, explaining how he’d been at dance practice for his class, but with a new unit of transferred dancers, and as someone with a demanding and confident personality like his, he’d somehow made the other, older dancers feel overshadowed and inferior, and was ultimately benched from a routine.

Hyunsuk feels for Jihoon terribly, competition and pettiness in the performing arts community can really break your spirit immensely. Hyunsuk knows that life all too well. 

“I just feel so bad, like such a bad person.” Jihoon starts.

Hyunsuk truly doesn’t understand how someone like Jihoon could be perceived as a bad person, when all he does is care for others, is the one person to bring up a sour atmosphere, inspires people like Hyunsuk to do better, to be better. 

Hyunsuk is about to deny him instantly but Jihoon continues, “they took me out for literally _existing_ , hyung.”

Hyunsuk doesn’t know what to say at all, but he knows what it feels like to be ostracised in a world where it feels like there is always going to be someone better than you, someone younger than you, someone that despises you for little reason. 

It’s this that he tells Jihoon, that though he can’t help, he gets it, he truly does and that Jihoon will always be the best in his eyes.

(He acts like he doesn’t hear it when Jihoon cries quietly, and talks random nonsense to comfort him him until they both eventually fall asleep, and the sound of their breathing echoes until Jihoon’s phone dies and the call ends.)

(He’s also now 100% certain that he likes Jihoon.)

-

**me**  
_jihoon_  
_can you come over?_  
_we should probably talk_

Almost immediately after he sends it, Hyunsuk contemplates jumping off of the nearest building, just to avoid the hole he’s just dug himself into, under the advice of his long distance best friend, Byounggon.

He fucking hates Byounggon.

It was right about an hour ago when Hyunsuk had reached the peak of the climbing stress from his overwhelming feelings for Jihoon, and keeping it entirely to himself when he’d texted Byounggon on impulse. A mistake he keeps repeating that has led him into precarious situations, consulting Byounggon instead of Seunghun.

**me**  
_byounggon idk wtf to do_  
_i think I’m in love with my classmate who’s also become my detention partner who’s also basically become my best friend_

**byounggon**  
_ah so that’s why you haven’t been calling me_  
_and best friend ?!_  
_me and seunghun are your best friends !!_

**me**  
_byounggon there are more serious issues at hand_  
_i am currently IN LOVE with someone and I don’t know what to do ??_

His detailed explanation of his suffering and torment under the hands of Jihoon, which Hyunsuk had thought was pretty heart-wrenching was met by Byounggon, his now ex-best friend, calling him a fucking idiot and advising him to just _talk_ to Jihoon.

(Because apparently, according to Byounggon, Jihoon has approximately a 98% chance of already being in love with Hyunsuk and is, quote, “way too fucking obvious”.)

Therefore, leading to Hyunsuk regretting his entire life down the the very moment of his birth as he waits for Jihoon’s knock on the door. Which comes seconds after he calms his nerves, only for them to skyrocket once again, immediately.

Hyunsuk downright hates himself for acting like a teenage girl in an American teen flick, as he paces around his couch in panic before he hears his phone ping with a notification from Jihoon most likely.

He finally works up the courage to open the door, his breath catching once he sees Jihoon as it always does and awkwardly beckons him inside, movements stiffened by the constricting fear that this was going to be the last time he was to interact with Jihoon normally, like best friends.

Suddenly, he doesn’t think he’s ready to risk potentially losing Jihoon at all.

-

Jihoon’s sat unnaturally straight on the couch, while Hyunsuk leans against a wall, after pacing in an attempt to calm himself down. He fucking hates the atmosphere around them, the way their movements are so practiced and unlike the way they’ve become so comfortable around each other these past months.

Hyunsuk _really_ doesn’t want to lose Jihoon.

That same Jihoon murmurs his name softly, bringing him directly out of his thoughts, “Hyunsuk? What’s going on?”

It’s like someone else takes control of his body once Jihoon breaks the silence, and Hyunsuk has to take a deep breath before he speaks, “Look, things have gotten weird between us.”

He fights the urge to cringe, a bit of a dramatic start, but could have been worse.

Still, Jihoon closes his eyes and winces, like he’s heard the worst news possible, and grimaces like he expected those exact words to exit Hyunsuk’s mouth but hoped they wouldn’t. 

Jihoon cuts him off hurriedly before he can say another word, a panicked expression lining his features, and Hyunsuk briefly wonders what on earth is going on.

“I think I like you”

Hyunsuk feels as if his whole world stops, and he’s curious as to what kind of an expression he must have on his face. Jihoon can’t even meet Hyunsuk’s eyes, and the sudden turn in events and change in Jihoon’s demeanour is giving Hyunsuk serious whiplash.

“I know you must be shocked, and I seriously don’t blame you if you never want to speak to me again but I really do like you,” Jihoon instantly falls into his habit of rambling when he’s nervous, talking quickly and hurriedly, eyes unusually downcast. He never has any problem with looking anybody in the eyes.

Hyunsuk can’t even move, a single syllable barely escaping, a squeak of “What?”

He silently kicks himself at that being the best he could do, he just doesn’t even know how to comprehend what he’s just been told. What a turn of events, Jihoon likes him ? Hyunsuk must be dreaming, definitely. This is not how this was supposed to go down in his head.

“I got that first detention because I thought you were cute and I wanted to mess with you a little.” Jihoon’s next words feel even more surreal, and like the world is playing tricks on him, and Hyunsuk feels like he needs to sit down, “But I genuinely like spending time with you, whether it’s at your house or my house or in detention or in the fucking park. I like holding you and I like it when you hold me. I like you, Hyunsuk and I don’t want to lose this, whatever it is that we have right now.”

So much for being a lyricist, Hyunsuk can’t seem to find a single word to say right now. He panics, and seeing Jihoon’s expression grow increasingly dejected makes him flounder, and before Jihoon can begin to move towards the door, he gives in to impulse and joins their lips together in a soft kiss.

Jihoon freezes in shock for a few moments, and Hyunsuk’s inner monologue is panicking greatly, before his arms are coming to wrap around Hyunsuk, and he begins to kiss back. 

They don’t know how much time passes before they break away from each other, if they even do that, their lips too far away to be considered kissing, but to close to be anything other than that. 

They just know they’re contented.

-

(Life doesn’t change much after that, even though Junkyu claims that he knew there was something going on between them the whole time, but everyone knows he had no clue .

Jihoon still accompanies Hyunsuk in his considerably lower number of detentions since they actually attempt to do their work now, and Hyunsuk is still totally stupid for Jihoon. 

The only difference is now he can call Jihoon his _boyfriend_.)

**Author's Note:**

> the sonic movie was vv good and wasn’t shit at all for fic purposes, that was a joke !!
> 
> I’m hoping for a peppa pig movie next ngl


End file.
